A 250-meter-long and four-meter-wide tunnel connecting two departments of the 115 People’s Hospital in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City has become a great help for patients and doctors following its inauguration.

The first of its kind in the southern metropolis, the tunnel has facilitated seamless transportation of patients between the hospital’s high-tech diagnostic and treatment building and emergency and inpatient treatment department.

The hospital is situated on Su Van Hanh Street in District 10, with the two mentioned departments on the opposite sides of the road.

Without the tunnel, which allows four stretchers or two electric shuttle buses to move away from each other at the same time, if a patient needs to be shifted from the high-tech diagnostic and treatment building to the emergency and inpatient treatment department or vice versa, the hospital would have to carry them through the busy Su Van Hanh Street.

“This tunnel is very convenient in transporting emergency patients, as well as a safe way for medical staff to walk between the two buildings,” said Dr. Tran Van Song, deputy director of the hospital.

A number of other hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City also have buildings located on the opposite roadsides, such as Cho Ray Hospital in District 5, Binh Dan Hospital in District 3, the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Binh Thanh District, and Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital in District 5, but none has constructed such underground connection.

The subterranean link is a part of the 19,000-square-meter high-tech diagnostic and treatment building, which was just inaugurated on Wednesday after over six years of construction, with 10 floors and two basements.

Equipment, machinery, materials, documents, and many more have been all transported into the VND332-billion (US$14 million) new building via the underpass in recent days, minimizing the risk of traffic accidents.

The building also has a helipad.

The 115 People’s Hospital has the largest scale among hospitals under the management of the administration of Ho Chi Minh City. 

It has 1,600 beds, 45 departments with 2,500 staff and is tasked with developing into a specialized medical center on a regional and global level.

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